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Joan of Bar, Countess of Surrey

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Name
  
Joan Bar,

Uncles
  
Henry, son of Edward I


Joan of Bar, Countess of Surrey

Father
  
Henry III, Count of Bar

Mother
  
Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar

Role
  
Henry III, Count of Bar's daughter

Died
  
1361, London, United Kingdom

Spouse
  
John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey

Parents
  
Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar, Henry III, Count of Bar

Grandparents
  
Edward I of England, Eleanor of Castile, Theobald II, Count of Bar

Great-grandparents
  
Henry III of England, Ferdinand III of Castile

Noble family
  
House of Montbeliard

Joan of Bar (died in 1361, London) was a daughter of Henry III, Count of Bar and Princess Eleanor of England, and niece of Edward II of England. She was unhappily married to John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey. In 1345, Joan became the regent of Bar for her great-nephew Robert.

Contents

Life

Joan was close in age to her older brother, Edward I, Count of Bar.

On 25 May 1306, at ten or eleven years old, Joan was married to one of the leading nobles of England, John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, a "nasty, brutal man with scarcely one redeeming quality." She lived at the Warenne family estates, Conisbrough Castle and Sandal Castle, abandoned by her husband, who hated her and since 1313 had been trying to divorce her. In England, she was close to Isabella of France, her aunt by marriage (Isabella’s husband Edward II was Joan’s maternal uncle) who was about her same age, and spent time with her at court. She was probably close to her cousin Elizabeth de Clare, who left Joan an image of John the Baptist in her will.

After four unhappy years of marriage, Surrey alleged in 1314 that the union was unlawful because Joan was related to him in the third and fourth degree, and because he had been "precontracted" to Maud of Nerford, his longtime mistress and the mother of his children, before marrying Joan. Despite his claims, a divorce was never granted.

In 1345, Joan was invited by Philip VI of France to act as regent of the County of Bar.

In 1353, she returned to England. When John II of France was captured and imprisoned in London, she was allowed to visit him and is said to have become his mistress, at 56 years old.

Joan died in 1361 in London.

In conspiracy theories, such as the one promoted in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Joan of Bar has been alleged to be the fifth Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.

References

Joan of Bar, Countess of Surrey Wikipedia